


Dance of Sorrow

by MaeveBran



Series: From the Angel Files [10]
Category: Angel: the Series, Bones (TV), These Girls (2005)
Genre: F/M, Same Performer in Different Roles, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2006-05-21
Updated: 2006-07-10
Packaged: 2018-02-25 18:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2630996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaeveBran/pseuds/MaeveBran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Buffy and Angel go to DC to deal with Willow and Angela's strange discovery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally part of the "Introducing Willow, the Squint" collection but grew long enough to require its own separate posting.

Buffy was just getting ready to dial a familiar number, when the phone rang.

"Hello," Buffy answered.

"Buffy," Angel said.

"Angel, I was just going to call you," Buffy replied with a smile. "I got a phone call from Agent Booth. Am I to assume you got one too?"

"Yeah," Angel answered. "So what are we going to do?"

"I talked to Giles and he'd like me to go and look into why a Pylean wound up in D.C.," Buffy said, slightly irritated at having to go just to satisfy Giles's curiosity but glad to be able to see Willow. "What are you going to do?" 

"I was thinking of going too," Angel said, a little shyly. "If you don't mind, I could even pick you up in Vegas."

"You mean, fly together in the Wolfram and Hart corporate jet? Sure. It beats using Council funds. Giles will like that," Buffy said.

Just then, Dawn came in and handed Buffy a note.

"Just a minute Angel, Dawn just came in," Buffy excused herself as she scanned the note. "It seems there is a new slayer on the East Coast of Canada. I think if I take Dawn I can go and pick up this slayer and rejoin you in DC afterward. "

"You mean to start the investigation and then run off and leave me?" Angel asked.

"Sure, you are after all, the detective. I'm just the one who's really good at driving wooden stakes into stuff. Surely you can handle the investigation with the help of Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan," Buffy chided.

"Yeah, I think I can handle it, but why not go take care of the slayer first and then meet me there?" asked Angel.

"Because I want Willow to come along in case something goes wrong. I might need a powerful witch along with a Watcher in training," Buffy explained.

* * *

The next morning, the Wolfram and Hart jet was waiting at the private airport when Buffy and Dawn arrived. They were escorted on board by a fetching blond stewardess. Once the flight was underway and everyone had settled in, Dawn was bursting with questions for Angel. Finally she could contain it now longer.

"Angel, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" inquired the Watcher in training.

"Go ahead." Angel agreed.

"So what is the deal with Angelus and puppies?" inquired Dawn.

"What-- Where did you-- Oh, you're reading the Watcher Diaries, aren't you?" Angel sputtered.

"Uh, yeah. So what is up with the puppies?" insisted Dawn.

"It was a mental torture. I don't like to talk about Angelus' exploits if you don't mind," snapped Angel as he reverted to his normal brood mode.

"From what I hear, after you got your soul you saved a puppy or two," Buffy said.

"Where did you hear that?" asked a puzzled Angel.

"A little birdie. She answers to the name of Faith," teased Buffy.

"Right, she told you about that Orpheus trip," sulked Angel.

"Yeah, she did. She was somewhat impressed even while she was laughing over the stupidity of saving a puppy," Buffy laughed.

"I'm glad I can amuse." Angel continued to sulk.

They passed the rest of the flight in silence. Dawn had other questions she'd have liked to ask Angel, but her long experience with the Souled Vampire had taught her that now was not the time to ask them.

* * *

It was dark when the plane landed and the trio went straight to the Jeffersonian. Angel was particularly glad of this as the Medico-Legal lab had lots of skylights. He'd envisioned trying to pretend to be human while dodging all that sun and was not amused at the thought. 

Agent Booth was waiting for them when they stepped off the elevator. "Wow, I didn't expect you both to come," he greeted them.

"Oh, Dawn and I just hitched a ride on Angel's cooperate jet. We'll be leaving with Willow in the morning for Canada," Buffy answered, clearly a little uncomfortable in the FBI man's presence. Booth, as well, seemed uncomfortable in the blonde Slayer's company.

"Oh, uh, good," Booth managed while shifting uncomfortably. "This way to the Angelator." He led them into Angela Montenegro's inner sanctum, where the Pylean skull was on display.

Angel gasped. He recognized that particular Pylean from his trip to Pylea two years ago; it was Lorne's brother, Numfar. This investigation was possibly going to be bigger than he thought.

"Willow was right that is a Pylean, but not only that, I know this particular Pylean. It's Lorne's brother, Numfar," Angel said. "What am I going to do? I should stay and investigate, but I also should go back to LA and tell Lorne in person," Angel said, anguished. 

Buffy came over and put a hand on his back to comfort him.

"Why don't you call Wesley and have him tell Lorne?" Dawn spoke up for the first time since entering the Jeffersonian. 

Angel looked at her with amazement, although it shouldn't surprise him that Dawn had grown up and was not the little girl he remembered. "I'll just go do that. If you will excuse me?" 

Angel got up and walked out into the hall to call Wesley.


	2. Chapter 2

The Wolfram and Hart jet touched down outside of the town of Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada after dark on a Tuesday night. Buffy had wanted an early start after dropping Angel off in D.C., but Willow had to finish up some paperwork regarding the discovery of Numfar. They had left six hours later than originally planned so it was pretty late but Buffy, Dawn, and Willow were anxious to discover the identity of the newest slayer to be discovered. 

Willow performed the locator spell as soon as they were settled and enchanted the map to keep track of the slayer's movement. Once her identity was established, the three would then decide the best way to approach the slayer with the news.

They followed the map to a house with a greenhouse out back. They hung back in the shadows as a man on a motorcycle came riding up. He got off and went to the house and for a minute he was illuminated by the porch light. Willow and Buffy and Dawn all exchanged glances.

"It can't be," whispered Buffy.

"Two I'll accept, but not three," said a stunned Dawn.

"It must be an Angelbot," whispered Willow, thinking of a parcel that resided in the plane's cargo hold.

She had asked Dawn to get the remains of the Buffybot and bring them for Zack Addy to study. He had told her about the small robot he had built and had given to Booth for Christmas, and Willow thought he might enjoy looking at and taking apart what remained of the Buffybot. Zack would be able to use the bot and no one else wanted it; it had been dumped in a pile of outdated technology outside the city limits of Sunnydale and had therefore survived the collapse of the Hellmouth. Willow had had Dawn fetch it soon after Willow had started work at the Jeffersonian and this was the first chance Dawn had to bring it out with her. But the Buffybot would just have to wait until this situation with a new slayer was resolved.

The stunned trio watched as the door swung open to reveal a teenage girl who threw herself in the Angelbot's arms and tried to French Kiss the bot.

"Definitely a copy of Angel. Right down to the doing it with teenage girls," muttered Willow.

"Hey," Buffy exclaimed. Then, after a pause in which the couple went in to the house, she conceded. "But you're right, it is Angel's MO. Or was."

"Are you sure that that girl is the slayer?" asked Dawn.

"Pretty darn," replied Willow.

They stayed on board the plane that night and then set out in the daylight to find out about the new slayer. Dawn learned, at the snack shack on the beach, that her name was Glory Lorraine. When she returned to the plane and imparted the information, both Buffy and Willow seemed a little disturbed by that.

"Glory, huh? That name will take some getting used to," Buffy said, obviously remembering the last being they ran into with that name. 

That night they again spent on the plane. Thursday was spent in finding more about Glory, as was Friday. Friday night they finally had enough to talk to Glory. They got out the map and again tracked her to the Angelbot's house. Only when they got there, the door was wide open and no one was home. A window was broken and a lamp was smashed. 

Willow, Dawn and Buffy were assessing the situation when Glory and a brunette returned and called for a Keith. The newcomers introduced themselves as Glory Lorraine and Kiera St. George. They explained that there was an attack and that they had come to see if Keith was all right, but before they could question Buffy, a car came up. Glory and Kiera rushed out.

"Kieth isn't here," said Glory.

"Don't worry, he's with us. We'll meet you around back," answered the girl in the car. 

The Slayer, Witch and Watcher went around back with the rest and were slightly shocked to see the Angelbot in the trunk of the car. This must be Keith. The girl in the car got out, carrying a baby.

When Keith revived, the revelations that came pouring out around the Sunnydale contingent just stunned them and they were in shock until the words, "I'm pregnant." cut through the confusion. It was Glory going on about how she and Keith were going to have a child together. 

"A pregnant slayer?" mouthed Buffy to Dawn, who looked as confused as the other two. Looks passed between them and they slipped out of the house in the ensuing chaos. 

Once out of earshot of the house they stopped to try to unravel the situation.

"So Keith is not a robot," stated Dawn. "I mean robots may be functional and all - a thought I don't want to contemplate- but they can't get a girl pregnant."

"Angel never would have seduced three teenagers. I guess there really are three men that look like that. Dang. What a universe," said Buffy contemplating the chances of that.

"If there had to be three men who looked a like at least they are too handsome for words," stated Willow, drawing stunned looks from Buffy and Dawn. "What? I can't admire good-looking men? Just because I prefer women in my bed, it doesn't mean I'm blind to a perfectly good specimen of manhood."

"Okay, whatever," Dawn replied. "I need to call Giles to warn him of the situation." The three of them headed back to the plane for the night.

The next morning found Buffy on the Lorraine doorstep flanked by Willow and Dawn. Glory herself answered the door and invited them in, since her parents were out.

"You were there last night, weren't you," Glory accused.

"Yes, we were. We were looking for you," said Buffy.

"Why?" asked Glory.

"Because you are a vampire slayer," Dawn blurted out.

"I'm a what?"

"Vampire slayer. One born with the strength and skill to fight off the demons and vampires," said Buffy. "A chosen one. Have you noticed being stronger since May?"

"I guess I have. I hadn't really thought of it. What happened in May?" asked Glory.

"I did a spell and made every potential slayer a slayer. Long story, and Buffy will tell you it someday soon," explained Willow.

"We're here to offer you a place at the Summers School for Gifted Women in Las Vegas, Nevada." said Dawn.

"The what?" asked Glory.

"Slayer University," Buffy summarized. "A school that was set up for all the newly activated slayers."

"Your baby will have all the 'Aunties' you can stand. The place also comes with a job offer of working in the office supply warehouse which funds the school," Willow assured her.

"I'll go with you. It sounds like with you my baby and I will be able to make it," Glory answered.

There were more details to be taken care of, of course, but now that they had her answer it didn't take all that long to finish up. A little over a day later, they bundled Glory and her things into the Wolfram and Hart jet and set out for D.C. to rejoin Angel and check on the progress of the Numfar investigation. From the things he had said on the phone the last couple of days, the situation wasn't all that urgent yet, but knowing their luck, it would be soon.

The last thing they did before they left Shediac was to get a picture of Keith from Glory. Buffy couldn't wait to see Angel's and Booth's faces when she showed it to them.

Not to mention, Glory's reaction to them...


	3. Chapter 3

The Wolfram and Hart jet flew from Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada to Washington D.C, carrying a quartet of women. Willow Rosenberg spent the time conversing with Glory Lorraine, the newest member of the group.

"Mind if I ask you a question?" Willow asked.

"Go ahead." Glory replied.

"Not that I mind, but why were you so willing to come with us? I mean we are three complete strangers. How did you know you could trust us?" Willow queried.

Glory thought for a moment, then replied. "I'm seventeen and pregnant. The baby's father is a married man who wants to get rid of me. My only other choice is to get together with Donny and let him take care of me. At least your offer came with a job and people to help raise my baby. It wasn't much of a choice for me."

"That makes sense. I just bet your baby will be incredibly spoiled in Vegas," Willow assured her. 

Minutes later, the jet touched down at a private airport. When they deplaned, the group was met by a sight that nearly had Glory fainting. Fortunately, Buffy was prepared and caught her as she began to sag. 

"That can't be," Glory whispered to Buffy after she regained her composure.

"Yes, it can be. I must admit I had nearly the same reaction to Keith," Buffy replied.

"What's wrong with her?" Special Agent Seeley Booth asked. "Is she sick or something?"

"It's a long story . . ." Buffy started.

"It can wait until we get back to the Jeffersonian or somewhere," Angel said. "Clearly this will be best explained in privacy."

"Yes, it will. But let me just say that two of you isn't enough for the universe," Willow chimed in.

"You mean . . .?" Booth exclaimed. "This definitely needs a private place to be explained."

An hour later Willow, Booth, Angel, Buffy, Dawn, and Glory were all ensconced in the living room of Willow's apartment. The room was done in cream with red accents. It was different, but suited the redheaded witch perfectly. Geeky clean with hints of the historical in the plush red velvety tapestry of the throw pillows and curtains, which were drawn to save Angel from a fiery death. The group had gathered there for explanations both about Glory and about Numfar.

Willow was busy getting things together for tea and coffee. Buffy was sitting in one corner of the couch with her feet tucked up under her, clutching a pillow to her chest. Glory was mirroring her in the other corner. Both were uncomfortable in the presence of Angel and Booth, for different reasons-- Buffy because of her past with both men, Glory because of their resemblance to Keith and because she was alone with these very strange people. Dawn was sitting on the floor in front of the couch. Angel was sitting in a straight-backed chair taken from the nearby kitchen table. He seemed genuinely puzzled. Booth was restlessly pacing in front of the coffee table. 

Willow moved from the kitchen area and set a tray with the coffee and tea down on the table. Everyone soon had a red earthenware mug with their beverage of choice doctored they way they liked it. Then they settled down to the business at hand.

"First, why did she faint upon meeting Angel and I? Second, who is she?" Booth started the conversation when no one else seemed willing to. 

"This is Glory Lorraine. She is the newest vampire slayer to be found." Buffy introduced the girl. Then she turned to Glory, "Glory, I'd like you to meet Special Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI and . . ."

"I'm Angel." Angel said, "And you should know I'm a vampire, but I have a soul." Glory looked confused and horrified at this news. "I've fought by Buffy's side for years."

"That he has." Buffy agreed.

"You didn't answer the question about why we were so shocking." Booth pointed out.

"Well, Glory's, uh, boyfriend was your and Angel's triplet." Dawn spoke up for the first time. "When we got there, he broke up with her in a scene that made any scene between you and Buffy, Angel, look like a walk in the park." 

Dawn stared daggers at Angel, who at least had the grace to appear ashamed of his past behavior. Then she pulled out the picture Glory had brought with her and handed it to Angel, who handed it to Booth. "You can see the resemblance," she said.

"I haven't seen myself in a mirror since Pylea, three years ago, but yeah, I can see the resemblance. How about you, Seeley?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, I see it," Booth agreed.

"Well, the shock of your appearance combined with her condition, naturally made Glory nearly faint." Willow explained.

"Her condition?" Angel asked puzzled.

""She's pregnant, then," Booth stated. Glory nodded miserably. "Admittedly, I don't know them that well, but Buffy and Dawn will take good care of you."

Glory appeared relieved to hear someone else confirm her opinion of the Summers women. Granted, she didn't know this stranger, who looked like Keith but was acting his total opposite, but if you couldn't trust an FBI Agent, who could you trust?

"I thought so too, that's why I came with them," Glory finally spoke up. "Enough about me. You said you were a vampire?" Glory turned to Angel. "I don't know much about being a slayer but aren't you supposed to be the enemy?"

"Normally a vampire would be dust if he got close to Buffy, but I have a soul," Angel tried to explain.

"You mentioned that before, but what does that mean?" she asked.

"Yeah, I would like the full explanation on that one. Back in LA you gave Bones and I a brief explanation, but I've never been really clear on the whole vampire with a soul thing. Both you and Spike have souls, but what does that mean?" Booth asked, seeing an opportunity to fill in the gaps he had in the story.

Angel was silent for a moment. The guilt of the past was almost palpable to the three ladies from Sunnydale. They knew the story Angel was about to tell.

"I was one of the most renowned vampires ever. The Watcher's diaries record my acts as some of the most gruesome acts of violence in their histories. I'm not bragging, but telling you this so you know what Buffy, Dawn, and Willow know. That is, as Angelus I was the worst mass murderer you could ever meet. Then one day my sire, Darla, brought me a gift. A young Gypsy girl, not too bright but pretty and loved by her clan. I killed her like I had killed many others. Her clan elders conjured the perfect revenge. They gave me back my soul. You have no idea what it is like to have done the things I did and then suddenly to care. In one instant, all the guilt and remorse I hadn't felt, because I'd had no soul, for a hundred and fifty-six years fell on me. A century and a half of slaughter and in an instant the guilt came. It nearly killed me." 

Booth and Glory appeared to be stunned and then shocked as Angel explained. "After I got a soul, I spent a hundred years searching for a way to be with Darla, but since I felt remorse for killing I would only kill the occasional murderer to live. But Darla wouldn't take me like that, she demanded I kill innocents still and I couldn't. Then I met Buffy and decided to try to seek redemption and make up for my past, only I don't think I ever will be able to."

"There are just some things you can never make up for," Booth agreed. His face spoke of a guilt that nearly mirrored Angel's, and an understanding passed between the doppelgangers. The rest of the group was silent for a moment, as they observed the man and vampire.

"What is a sire?" Glory broke the silence.

"A vampire who turns a human into another vampire is said to have sired the new vampire. The new vampire is the childe of the sire," Dawn explained as pompously as either Giles or Wesley would have, when they were new Watchers and hadn't had to be in the field. "Although the term can also be applied to any senior vampire in the line."

"Thank you, Dawn," Buffy said, giving her sister a look. "Any other pressing questions, Glory? Or are you regretting your choice in a new life? Once you learn all of what goes bump in the night you'll never be able to go back."

"It is a lot to absorb, but what do I have to go back to? Keith doesn't love me. My best friends have moved on to their schools. I have made my choice," Glory stated flatly. "But I do have a question."

"Go ahead." Buffy said soothingly.

"My fuzzy understanding of being a Slayer is to kill vampires. So how do I do that?" Glory asked.

"Yes, that is the job," Buffy answered as she looked at Angel. She wasn't used to explaining how to kill vampires in front of Angel. She seemed to be uncomfortable at the idea.

"Buffy, don't worry." Angel sensed the reason for discomfort. "I'm used to explaining how to kill me. If I revert to Angelus, I'd like to know that those that I care about will be able to do something about it." Then he turned to Glory. "We can be killed by a wooden stake to the heart, decapitation, sunlight, or by being set on fire. A vampire turns to dust when killed."

'I think that covers all the basics," Buffy said as a way to end the conversation that was making her more and more uncomfortable. "So, Booth, how is the investigation into the Numfar thing coming?"

"We have made some progress, but all the information is at the Jeffersonian. Why don't we meet there tomorrow, and Dr. Brennan, Angela, Angel, and I can bring you up to speed," Booth answered.

"Sounds like a plan," Buffy agreed. "It's been a day, and I think we all could use a good night's rest."

Booth and Angel left the women at Willow's apartment after making firmer plans for the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a rainy, cloudy, stormy day. Just the way Angel wanted it, since the sun was hidden. It meant he could walk around the city and the Jeffersonian without causing comment. He was glad. Booth and Brennan both knew who and what he was but the others didn't. He wasn't wanting to have to tell Dr. Hodgins, Dr. Goodman or Zack. He knew he probably would one of these days but that day wasn't this day. Only Angela had been told. She'd had to be told when her reconstruction had turned up a Pylean.

He had been investigating for a few days with this group of-- what had Booth called them-- squints. They weren't Buffy's Scoobies with their quirky senses of humor and creative use of the English language. The squints weren't even his own fang gang with their interesting backgrounds and difficult couple of years. All the same, the squints were a family like the other two groups and he respected that.

So far the investigation had turned up the fact that some how Numfar had found the Groosalug and the two had been living in the tunnels of DC for a few months. Their camp had been abandoned for at least a week, though. Angel wondered where Groo had gone to after LA and how he had ended up in DC with Numfar. It was weird that two of the few Pyleans he knew had somehow met up, and then one was dead.

Brennan had identified the cause of death as decapitation. Angel knew, however, that that wouldn't be enough to kill a Pylean. Hadn't Lorne had his head cut off and still been talking? That meant that Numfar's body was still out there somewhere, mutilated. It was the only way for the death to be permanent. Then the key to this case would be to find Numfar's mutilated corpse or to find the Groosalug or both. 

Angel had reached the Medico-Legal lab by this time and could hear the rain continue to hit the skylight. It was a perfect day for him to be here and not holed up in the corporate jet-- since Willow had got back last night he had gone back to the Wolfram and Hart jet instead of her apartment.

The group was just gathering. Willow, Buffy, and Dawn were standing in Angela's office talking to her. Brennan and Booth were bantering in her office; he could hear them with his super vampire hearing. Zack and Hodgins were up on the platform arguing about whose beetle was superior. It was all really normal. Angel wondered at how this normality could continue when one of his best friends' world was crashing down.


	5. Chapter 5

Angel was waiting for the sun to set, lost in his thoughts. He was comfortable in his private cabin on the Wolfram and Hart jet parked at a private airport. He knew his life, or rather his unlife, was kind of complicated, but the news that the Groosalug was here involved in this was just about too much.

He knew the danger of judging things by appearances, but things didn't look good for Groo. It appeared that Groo had something to do with Numfar's death. There had to be an explanation, though. Angel did not want to face Cordelia with the news that the Groosalug had killed Lorne's brother. That is, if Cordy ever regained consciousness.

This was a monkey wrench in the tool box of his life that he did not need. There had to be something he could do... after the sun set, of course, because he had no intention of dying a fiery death at this juncture.

* * *

Special Agent Seeley Booth found himself seated across from his doppelganger on the latter's plane. No matter how well he and Angel worked together, no matter how much he enjoyed the vampire's company, he would never be completely comfortable in Angel's presence.

First of all, looking at the paler reflection of his own self was disturbing. The second reason was that the occasional casual reminder of how many people the vampire had killed disturbed the FBI man. Lastly, the need to avoid the sunlight meant crawling around in the dark, not that Booth was scared, but it meant he didn't have time to see Tessa.

The investigation was coming along, but Booth had a feeling that their most recent discovery had disturbed the vampire for unknown reasons. He hesitated to ask because most of his questions had been answered with answers he hadn't been happy about knowing. There were many things that Booth had been ignorant about and he had been happy in his ignorance, but he knew about them now and had to do something.


End file.
